Mark 6:14-29 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 6:14-29 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

The region of Galilee. King Herod ruled there. Earlier he had captured and imprisoned the messenger John. For what reason? King Herod had a brother named Philip. Philip had a wife named Herodias. Herod stole his brother’s wife and married Herodias. The messenger John rebuked Herod directly and said, “What have you done?”

King Herod did not like this, and he put John in prison. Herodias, the king’s wife, hated John and wanted to kill him. But she could not do it because the king feared John. The king saw that John was righteous. So the king did not want to kill him, even though he put him in prison. Although John rebuked the king directly, yet the king liked to listen to John.

Some time later it was Herod’s birthday. The king had gathered many guests, men of nobility and wealth, people famous in Galilee, and military leaders. They were all feasting at the table.

The daughter of Herodias, Herod’s wife, came. She danced very beautifully. All the guests admired, and the king himself admired. The king said:

— Ask of me whatever you wish! I’ll give you everything. I promise to give you half of my kingdom.

Herodias’ daughter went to her mother and asked her:

— The king has promised me half of the kingdom. What shall I ask of him?

Herodias said:

— I want John’s head cut off. Go and demand of King Herod that John’s head be brought on a platter.

The girl went and demanded of the king:

— Bring me the head of John the messenger on a platter!

Herod was saddened. He thought:

— I wanted to preserve John’s life. But I promised before many witnesses, and I cannot cancel my promise. So the king ordered the soldiers to cut off John’s head and bring the head on a platter. The soldiers obeyed and went to the prison and cut off John’s head and brought the head on a platter. The daughter took the platter with the head and carried it to her mother.

The disciples who used to follow John the messenger heard that his head had been cut off. They came and asked for John’s body, took the body, wrapped it and buried it. After a while, King Herod heard about Jesus, because the name Jesus became known all over the neighborhood, because Jesus worked miracles, healed people, made them well. Some people said:

— This is John the messenger, who died and now is risen.

And others said:

— This is the prophet Elijah.

And others said:

— No, this is a different prophet.

They all said different things. But King Herod thought:

— I am sure that Jesus is John the messenger, whom I had executed, and now he has risen again.

Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):

Область Галилея. Там правил царь Ирод. Ранее он схватил и посадил в тюрьму вестника Иоанна. По какой причине? У царя Ирода есть брат по имени Филипп. У Филиппа была жена по имени Иродиада. Ирод увел у брата жену и женился на Иродиаде. Вестник Иоанн прямо обличал Ирода и говорил: «Что ты сделал?!»

Царю Ироду это не нравилось, и он посадил Иоанна в тюрьму. Жена царя Иродиада ненавидела Иоанна и хотела его убить. Но это у нее не получалось, потому что царь опасался Иоанна. Царь видел, что Иоанн был праведным. Поэтому царь не хотел его убивать, хотя и посадил в тюрьму. Хотя Иоанн обличал царя прямо, однако царю нравилось слушать Иоанна.

Через какое-то время был день рождения Ирода. Царь собрал множество гостей, людей знатных и богатых, известных в Галилее, военачальников. Они все пировали за столом.

Пришла дочь Иродиады, жены Ирода. Она очень красиво танцевала. Все гости восхищались, и сам царь восхищался. Царь сказал:

— Проси у меня, что пожелаешь! Я тебе все дам. Обещаю, что подарю тебе половину моего царства.

Дочь Иродиады пошла к своей матери и спросила у нее:

— Царь обещал мне половину царства. Что мне попросить у него?

Иродиада сказала:

— Я хочу, чтобы Иоанну отрубили голову. Иди и требуй у царя Ирода, чтобы голову Иоанна принесли на блюде.

Девушка пошла и потребовала от царя:

— Принесите мне голову Иоанна-вестника на блюде!

Ирод опечалился. Он подумал:

— Я хотел сохранить жизнь Иоанна. Но я обещал перед многими свидетелями, и отменить свое обещание я не могу. И царь приказал солдатам отрубить Иоанну голову и принести голову на блюде. Солдаты повиновались, пошли в тюрьму и отрубили голову Иоанну и принесли на блюде голову. Дочь взяла блюдо с головой и понесла матери.

Ученики, которые раньше следовали за Иоанном-вестником, услышали, что ему отрубили голову. Они пришли и попросили тело Иоанна, забрали тело, запеленали и похоронили. Спустя какое-то время, царь Ирод услыхал об Иисусе, потому что имя Иисус стало известно по всей округе, ведь Иисус творил чудеса, исцелял людей, делал их здоровыми. Некоторые говорили:

— Это Иоанн-вестник, который умер, а теперь воскрес.

А другие говорили:

— Это пророк Илия.

А третьи говорили:

— Нет, это другой пророк.

Все говорили по-разному. Но царь Ирод подумал:

— Я уверен, что Иисус — это Иоанн-вестник, которого я казнил, а теперь он воскрес.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 6:30-44 in Russian Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 6:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 6:16:

  • Uma: “When King Herodes heard this, he said: ‘He must indeed be Yohanes the Baptizer, that Yesus over there [out of sight]! I gave orders the other day for his head to be cut off [lit., his neck to be chopped], but he has come back to life.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But when Herod heard this, he said, ‘That is Yahiya, whom I commanded to be beheaded. He is alive again.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But when King Herod heard what they were saying, he supposed that John was raised from the dead, and he said, ‘As for this Jesus, he is just John the Baptist whose head I cut off, and he is raised from the dead.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But when King Herod heard what Jesus was doing, he said, ‘That person is Juan the Baptizer whose head I had-cut-off. Why (surprised realization particle) he has-come-to-life again!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But when Herodes heard the news, he suspected in his mind/inner-being, ‘It’s none other than Juan whom I caused to be beheaded! He’s been made alive again!'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

self-referencing pronoun for king or queen

In Malay, the pronoun beta for the royal “I” (or “my” or “me”) that is used by royals when speaking to people of lower rank, subordinates or commoners to refer to themselves in these verses. This reflects the “language of the court because the monarchy and sultanate in Malaysia are still alive and well. All oral and printed literature (including newspapers and magazines) preserve and glorify the language of the court. Considering that the language of the court is part of the Malaysian language, court language is used sparingly where appropriate, specifically with texts relating to palace life.” (Source: Daud Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 263ff.)

John the Baptist (icon)

Following is a Syriac Orthodox icon of John the Baptist from the 18/19th century (found in the Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helen, Yabrud, Syria).

 
The wings are often depicted in icons of John the Baptist because of his status as a messenger. The scroll that John the Baptist holds quotes John 1:29 and reads (translated into English): “I saw and witnessed concerning him, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.’”

Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

See also John the Baptist.

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Mark 6:14-29)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Mark 6:14-29:

Jesus became so famous that some people claimed,
“He’s John Dipper come back to life.” Others disagreed,
       “No, he’s one of the ancient prophets now returned.”

Governor Herod had previously executed John Dipper,
but still Herod thought Jesus was John
       alive and kicking once again. So the

Here’s the story: Herod had earlier married Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip,
       but John had vigorously and publicly objected.

Herod wanted to make Herodias happy,
       so he had John thrown in prison.
However, Herodias wasn’t finished with John,
       but she was absolutely helpless —
Although Herod was afraid of John,
he often went to him for advice,
       but always returned frustrated and confused.

At last, Herodias got her big chance,
when her daughter danced
       at the birthday party Herod had thrown for himself.
His public officials and military officers had been invited,
and her dancing pleased them so much
       that Herod promised her whatever she wanted.

She was a momma’s girl and hurried off to Herodias,
who told her to ask for delivery on a platter
       the head of John Dipper.

When Herod was informed, he immediately performed
and ordered John Dipper to be decapitated.
       Then his head was displayed on a platter.
When John’s followers learned of his fate,
       they took his body and placed it in a tomb.

Translation commentary on Mark 6:15 – 6:16

Text:

At the end of verse 16, after ēgerthē ‘was raised’ Textus Receptus adds ek nekrōn ‘from the dead,’ which is omitted by all modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

Ēlias (8.28; 9.4, 5, 11, 12, 13; 15.35, 36) ‘Elijah’: cf. Mal. 3.1, 4.5, for O.T. references to the coming of Elijah as predecessor of the Messiah, and see Mk. 9.9-13 for the application of this prophecy to the Baptist.

prophētēs (cf. 1.2) ‘prophet.’

hōs heis tōn prophetōn ‘as one of the prophets’: generally taken to mean ‘as one of the Prophets of old’ as Lk. 9.8 has it (cf. The Modern Speech New Testament ‘like one of the great Prophets’). Black, however, suggests ‘a prophet, like any (true) prophet.’

hon egō apekephalisa Iōannēn houtos ēgerthē ‘John, whom I beheaded, he was raised’: in a construction not at all unusual in Greek, the relative pronoun, which is the object of the verb and thus in the accusative case, is placed before its antecedent; the antecedent, being incorporated into the relative clause, is, by what is called “inverse attraction,” also in the accusative case. This construction is equivalent to Iōannēs, hon egō apekephalisa, houtos ēgerthē: ‘John’ in the nominative case, as the subject of the sentence; ‘whom’ the relative is in the accusative case as the object of ‘I beheaded’; houtos ‘this one’ the demonstrative pronoun is in the nominative case agreeing with ‘John’ to which it refers.

apokephalizō (6.28) ‘beheaded.’

egeirō (cf. 1.31) ‘rise.’

Translation:

The contrast between some (verse 14) … but others … and others must be quite explicit in some languages, e.g. ‘some people … other people … and still other people.’

Elijah should be transliterated in the form which will be employed in the Old Testament. Some translators have endeavored to use one system of transliteration when reproducing the Greek forms of names and another when transcribing the Hebrew equivalents. However, it is a mistake to spell the name of an Old Testament person in one way in the Old Testament and in another way in the New Testament. On the other hand, one should not take a name such as Jesus and make it identical with Joshua, even though they are etymologically related.

For prophet, see 1.2.

Prophets of old must not be rendered as ‘old prophets’ referring to the age of the men in question. The meaning is ‘one of the prophets who lived long ago’ or ‘one of the prophets who lived in the days of our ancestors.’

Heard of it is in some languages ‘heard what Jesus was doing,’ since it may be entirely too vague a reference to be intelligible.

Beheaded poses a subtle problem in some languages which distinguish carefully between primary and secondary agency, i.e. whether the grammatical subject actually performed an action or whether he caused it to be done through another. Obviously, Herod himself did not do the beheading, and hence, one may translate ‘caused to be beheaded’ or ‘ordered men to cut off his head.’

Has been raised is ‘has come back to life’ or ‘is living again’ (see 6.14).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 6:16

6:16a

But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But here introduces who Herod thought Jesus was. This idea agrees with the first idea mentioned in 6:14d. It does not contrast with all the other ideas. So some English translations do not translate the conjunction But. The New Century Version, for example, leaves it untranslated. Connect Herod’s idea in 6:16a to the other ideas in 6:14–15 in the way that is natural in your language.

when Herod heard this: Just as in 6:14a, the word this is not in the Greek. Most English versions add the word “this” or “it” to make the meaning clearer. The word this refers back to all the things the people were saying about who Jesus was. You may need to use a specific expression instead of this, such as:

when Herod heard their opinions
-or-
when Herod heard these ideas
-or-
when Herod heard what the people were saying

6:16b

John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead!: Herod believed what the first group of people (6:14c) were saying. He had personal reasons to believe this, since he had given the order to kill John (6:17–29).

It is not explicitly stated that Herod thought that Jesus was John. You may need to make this clear. For example:

He is John the Baptist! I had his head cut off, but he has come back to life! (Good News Bible)
-or-
Jesus must be John, the man I beheaded! He has been raised from the dead.

John: It may be necessary to say “John the Baptist” (as in the Good News Bible) to make the reference clear.

In Greek, John’s name is stated at the end of the clause “the man I beheaded.” This emphasizes John and makes him the focus of this passage. To emphasize John you could translate:

He is John the Baptist! (Good News Bible)
-or-
This must be John! (Contemporary English Version)

whom I beheaded: The phrasewhom I beheaded here means that Herod had ordered someone to cut off John’s head. Herod himself did not cut off John’s head. One of his soldiers did that.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

I caused his head to be cut off
-or-
I myself ordered him to be beheaded

I: In Greek, the word is emphasized. If possible, you should make this word emphatic in your translation. For example:

It was I who had him beheaded!

has risen from the dead: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as has risen from the dead is more literally “has been raised from the dead,” as in the New International Version. This is a passive clause. In some languages it may be more natural to use an active verb, as the Berean Standard Bible does. Here are some other ways to say this in active form:

he has come back to life
-or-
God raised him from the dead

Some languages use an impersonal third person plural “they” to show a passive. For example:

they raised him from the dead

from the dead: Not all Greek manuscripts include the phrase from the dead. Some manuscripts say “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised” (as in the Revised Standard Version). But even in these texts, the idea of from the dead is clearly implied. So it is recommended that you include this phrase in your translation if it is natural.

General Comment on 6:16a–b

In some languages it may be natural to translate Herod’s comments as indirect speech. For example:

Herod heard what the people were saying. He decided that John the Baptizer, whom he had beheaded, must have been raised from the dead.

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